September 15, 2006

Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester met with officials from Detroit Edison’s Belle River Power Plant today to officially welcome them to Michigan’s Clean Corporate Citizen (C3) program. The Belle River plant, located in St. Clair County, has become the 127th facility in Michigan to join the growing program that recognizes the state’s top environmental performers.

“This recognition represents DTE's commitment to pollution prevention and waste minimization,” said Director Chester. “This facility applies new technologies in a way that reduces its environmental footprint and is protective of our environment.”

The Belle River Plant is the second Detroit Edison plant to receive C3 status this year, along with the Harbor Beach Power Plant in Harbor Beach. The company’s Fermi 2 Power Plant in Newport and the St. Clair Power Plant in St. Clair have also previously been awarded C3 status.

“Earning the Clean Corporate Citizen designation required a commitment for every plant employee,” said Dennis Miller, plant manager. “Of course, there was never any question about that commitment. Teamwork and a genuine concern for protecting the environment are deeply held values among our employees.”

Patricia Poppe, director, St. Clair and Belle River power plants, said that the C3 designation symbolizes the company’s deep concern for protecting the environment. “The plant employees – and all DTE Energy employees – are keenly aware that they have a personal responsibility for protecting the environment day in and day out,” she said. “This is a commitment we have made to our families, friends, and neighbors and to future generations.”

The Belle River plant, which has the capacity to generate 1,282 megawatts of electricity, is designed to burn low-sulfur Western coal from Wyoming and Montana. Covered conveyors and bag filters help prevent dust from entering the atmosphere, and large electrostatic precipitators remove fly ash from the exhaust stacks. DTE Energy sells about 60 percent of the plant’s fly ash to cement companies which significantly reduces the amount sent to landfills.

The Clean Corporate Citizen program is open to establishments regulated under any of Michigan’s environmental statutes. Designations are valid for one year and must be renewed annually. More information on the Clean Corporate Citizen program is available on the DEQ’s Web site at www.michigan.gov/deqc3.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

“Protecting Michigan’s Environment, Ensuring Michigan’s Future”

Revised September 15, 2006 by Pat Watson